Estimate information creating device, estimate information creating and notifying method, and program-recorded medium

ABSTRACT

In an estimate information creating device, an estimate newly-creating section ( 4 ) obtains a negotiation-independent information address of an updated negotiation-independent information from a negotiation-independent information DB ( 5 ), and further obtains, from a negotiation-dependent information DB ( 3 ), user information, user demand information, and an ID of negotiation-dependent information having the obtained negotiation-independent information address and having a “contract-unconcluded” status. An estimate creating section ( 2 ) returns to the estimate newly-creating section ( 4 ) estimate information that conforms to the user demand information, and the negotiation-independent information address. After estimate information identified by the obtained ID is updated, the estimate newly-creating section ( 4 ) sends notification to a user terminal ( 1 ). In such a way, an estimate is newly created when estimate basic information has changed.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an estimate information creating deviceand an estimate information creating and notifying method for creationof an estimate of a product and notification of the estimate or itsannouncement and also relates to a program-recorded medium containing anestimate creating and notifying program.

BACKGROUND ART

In determining purchase of a product, a dealer may create an estimate inwhich the specifications and the price of the product are entered and anegotiating counterpart who is considering the purchase of the productmay discuss the pros and cons of the purchase by using the estimate. Theestimate is created on the basis of estimate basic information, orinformation such as cost and performances of components that serves as abasis for making an estimate. Then, if the estimate has contents thatare not acceptable to the negotiating counterpart, the businessnegotiation will be unsuccessful and not reach a contract.

However, if the estimate basic information is updated and the contentsof the estimate are changed by newly creating an estimate using theupdated estimate basic information, there is a possibility (potentialdemand) that the negotiating counterpart considers it better to decidethe purchase even if a contract will not concluded.

Therefore, as a method for making the potential demand reach theconclusion of a contract, there has been a business method by which withrespect to the negotiation of which the estimate has been made but notreached the conclusion of a contract, a new estimate is presented to thesame party to offer the restart of the negotiation when the estimatebasic information is changed. The method is effective particularly forthe negotiating counterpart who needs no immediate delivery of theproduct and postpones the purchase until the estimate of the productsatisfies a certain requirement as well as for the sales of a product ofwhich the price is gradually lowered or the performance is improved withtime.

However, the conventional business method of newly creating an estimateand offering the restart of the negotiation has the problems as follows.That is, as a device to be used by the conventional business method,there is only a simple device that monitors the fall in the price of acertain product or a product that satisfies a certain specifiedrequirement and notifies the negotiating counterpart of the fall in theprice when the price has fallen below a certain price. Furthermore, itis rare that the notification is made by such a device in the case of acustom-made product and a system product for which a complicatedestimation work is needed every negotiation.

The work of finding a negotiation having the potential to reach acontract if a new estimate is created and presented to the negotiatingcounterpart from among the negotiations that did not reach a contract inthe past and newly creating an estimate, is complicated and necessitatesa large amount of work in the case of custom-made products and systemproducts. Therefore, the simple device, which notifies the negotiatingcounterpart of the price fall below a certain price as described above,cannot be used.

Particularly, in the case of a product that is manufactured by combiningmany kinds of components and that requires to be designed and estimatedon the basis of the requirements of the negotiating counterpart everynegotiation as in the case of a solar photovoltaic power generationdevice, it is complicated and requires a large amount of work tocorrectly investigate how the design change of a certain componentexerts what kind of influence on the design of the solar photovoltaicpower generation device and how the price and the performanceconsequently change. Moreover, when there is a subsidy system and thesubsidy payment, the subsidy framework and the subsidy grant conditionssometimes change or in the case of a product of which the componentprices may be largely varied, it is difficult to timely create a newestimate and inform the negotiating counterpart of the estimate becausesuch work tends to concentrate in a certain period of time.

Therefore, it has conventionally been unable to carry out the businessmethod without omission and with a small amount of labor for productslike the solar photovoltaic power generation device, and businessopportunities were often thrown away.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an estimateinformation creating device and an estimate information creating andnotifying method capable of newly creating and presenting an estimatewhen estimate basic information is changed, as well as providing aprogram-recorded medium containing an estimate information creating andnotifying program.

In order to accomplish the above object, there is provided, according toa first aspect of the present invention, an estimate creating device forcreating and notifying estimate information that includes aspecification and/or an estimate of a price of a product, on the basisof user demand information that depends on a specific negotiation andestimate basic information that does not depend on any specificnegotiation, comprising:

a negotiation-independent information database containingnegotiation-independent information that includes the estimate basicinformation and an update flag indicating whether or not the estimatebasic information has been updated;

an estimate creating section which, upon receiving an estimate createrequest, creates estimate information by obtaining from thenegotiation-independent information database estimate basic informationthat conforms to user demand information and returns the createdestimate information to a requestor of the estimate create request;

a negotiation-dependent information creating section which, uponreceiving a request from a user terminal, transmits the estimate createrequest to the estimate creating section, creates negotiation-dependentinformation that includes the returned estimate information, contractconclusion information indicating whether or not a contract has beenconcluded concerning the product to which the estimate information isdirected, and the user demand information, and issues the estimateinformation or an announcement that the estimate information has beencreated as a reply to the user terminal;

a negotiation-dependent information database in which the creatednegotiation-dependent information is stored;

a contract conclusion information updating section which, upon receivingupdated contract conclusion information for updating a specific contractconclusion information piece, makes the negotiation-dependentinformation database update a contract conclusion information pieceidentified by the received updated contract conclusion information onthe basis of the received updated contract conclusion information;

a negotiation-independent information updating section which, uponreceiving update negotiation-independent information for updating aspecific negotiation-independent information piece, makes thenegotiation-independent information database update anegotiation-independent information piece identified by the receivedupdate negotiation-independent information on the basis of the receivedupdate negotiation-independent information; and

an estimate newly-creating section which, on the basis of informationstored in the negotiation-independent information database and thenegotiation-dependent information database, obtainsnegotiation-dependent information of which the contract has not yet beenconcluded and which includes estimate information created by using theestimate basic information that was an object of updating, transmits tothe estimate creating section an estimate create request that includesuser demand information of the obtained negotiation-dependentinformation, makes the negotiation-dependent information database updatethe negotiation-dependent information with returned estimateinformation, and transmits to the user terminal the estimate informationor an announcement indicating that the estimate information has beencreated.

With the above construction, pieces of negotiation-independentinformation that include pieces of estimate basic information andassociated update flags are stored in advance in thenegotiation-independent information DB, and when updatenegotiation-independent information for updating a specificnegotiation-independent information piece is inputted, thenegotiation-independent information specified by the updatenegotiation-independent information is updated by thenegotiation-independent information updating section. Then, the estimatenewly-creating section requests the estimate creating section to createestimate information based on the user demand information in thenegotiation-dependent information of which a contract has not beenconcluded and the estimate basic information in thenegotiation-independent information updated. Thus, the estimateinformation newly created on the basis of the updated estimate basicinformation or an announcement regarding it is transmitted to the userterminal and presented to the negotiating counterpart.

Therefore, even in the case of custom-made products or system productsmanufactured by combining many kinds of components, i.e., products ofwhich the estimate is changed by a change in the estimate basicinformation and the estimate must be made individually for each productsuch that conditions provided at each negotiation are satisfied, likesolar photovoltaic power generation devices, the estimate information isautomatically newly created on the basis of the updated estimate basicinformation just by registering in advance the negotiation-dependentinformation that includes the user demand information and thenegotiation-independent information that includes the estimate basicinformation and using the update flag and the contract conclusioninformation.

Also, there is provided, according to a second aspect of the presentinvention, an estimate creating and notifying method for creating andnotifying estimate information that includes a specification and/or anestimate of a price of a product, by using user demand information thatdepends on a specific negotiation and estimate basic information thatdoes not depend on any specific negotiation, comprising steps:

storing negotiation-independent information including the estimate basicinformation in a negotiation-independent information database;

creating negotiation-dependent information including the user demandinformation;

creating the estimate information using the user demand information andthe estimate basic information;

storing the created negotiation-dependent information in anegotiation-dependent information database when a contract has not beenconcluded concerning the product for which the estimate information iscreated;

updating the negotiation-independent information stored in thenegotiation-independent information database;

newly creating estimate information when said step of updating thenegotiation-independent information has been performed, based on theestimate basic information in the updated negotiation-independentinformation and the user demand information in the negotiation-dependentinformation stored in the negotiation-dependent information database;and

transmitting the estimate information as created or an announcementindicating that the estimate information has been created to a userassociated with the user demand information.

With the above construction, the negotiation-dependent information thatincludes the user demand information is created and stored into thenegotiation-dependent information DB only when a contract concerning theproduct is not concluded. When the negotiation-independent informationstored in the negotiation-independent information DB is updated,estimate information is newly created on the basis of the updatedestimate basic information and the user demand information stored in thenegotiation-dependent information DB, and the newly created estimateinformation or a relevant announcement is presented to the user.

Therefore, even in the case of those custom-made products or systemproducts in which the estimate must be made individually for eachproduct such that conditions provided at each negotiation are satisfied,like solar photovoltaic power generation devices, the estimateinformation is automatically newly created on the basis of the updatedestimate basic information just by registering in advance thenegotiation-dependent information that includes the user demandinformation and the negotiation-independent information that includesthe estimate basic information.

The negotiation-dependent information pieces stored in thenegotiation-dependent information DB are unexceptionallynegotiation-dependent information of which no contract has beenconcluded. Therefore, a labor for searching for unconcludednegotiation-dependent information pieces is saved in newly creatingestimate information.

There is also provided, according to a third aspect of the invention, anestimate creating and notifying method for creating and notifyingestimate information that includes a specification and/or an estimate ofa price of a product, by using user demand information that depends on aspecific negotiation and estimate basic information that does not dependon any specific negotiation, comprising steps:

storing negotiation-independent information including the estimate basicinformation in a negotiation-independent information database;

creating negotiation-dependent information including the user demandinformation and contract conclusion information indicating whether ornot a contract has been concluded concerning the product for which theestimate information is created;

creating the estimate information using the user demand information andthe estimate basic information;

storing the created negotiation-dependent information in anegotiation-dependent information database;

updating a content of the contract conclusion information in thenegotiation-dependent information stored in the negotiation-dependentinformation database;

updating the negotiation-independent information stored in thenegotiation-independent information database;

newly creating estimate information concerning the negotiation-dependentinformation for which the contract conclusion information stored in thenegotiation-dependent information database indicates that no contracthas been concluded, when said step of updating thenegotiation-independent information has been performed, based on theestimate basic information in the updated negotiation-independentinformation and the user demand information in the negotiation-dependentinformation; and

transmitting the estimate information as created or an announcementindicating that the estimate information has been created to a userassociated with the user demand information.

With the above construction, the negotiation-dependent information thatincludes the contract conclusion information and the user demandinformation is created and stored into the negotiation-dependentinformation DB. Moreover, the contract conclusion information of theproduct is updated. When the negotiation-independent information storedin the negotiation-independent information DB is updated, estimateinformation is newly created on the basis of the updated estimate basicinformation and the user demand information of the negotiation-dependentinformation, with respect to the negotiation-dependent information ofwhich the contract conclusion information indicates no contractconcluded, and the newly created estimate information or the relevantannouncement is presented to the user.

Therefore, even in the case of those custom-made products or systemproducts in which the estimate must be made individually for eachproduct such that conditions provided at each negotiation are satisfied,like solar photovoltaic power generation devices, the estimateinformation is automatically newly created on the basis of the updatedestimate basic information just by registering in advance thenegotiation-dependent information that includes the user demandinformation and the negotiation-independent information that includesthe estimate basic information.

The negotiation-dependent information DB contains all the pieces ofnegotiation-dependent information regardless of the conclusion ornonconclusion of a contract. Therefore, it becomes possible to carry outanalysis of the negotiation, the negotiating counterpart or the likebased on the negotiation-dependent information.

Furthermore, there is provided, according to a fourth aspect of theinvention, an estimate creating and notifying method for creating andnotifying estimate information that includes a specification and/or anestimate of a price of a product, by using user demand information thatdepends on a specific negotiation and estimate basic information thatdoes not depend on any specific negotiation, comprising steps:

storing in a negotiation-independent information databasenegotiation-independent information including the estimate basicinformation and an update flag indicating whether or not the estimatebasic information has been updated;

creating negotiation-dependent information including the user demandinformation;

creating the estimate information using the user demand information andthe estimate basic information;

storing the created negotiation-dependent information in anegotiation-dependent information database;

updating the negotiation-independent information stored in thenegotiation-independent information database and changing a content ofthe update flag such that the flag indicates updating has beenperformed;

newly creating estimate information referencing the content of theupdate flag and based on the estimate basic information in the updatednegotiation-independent information and the user demand information inthe negotiation-dependent information stored in thenegotiation-dependent information database; and

transmitting the estimate information as created or an announcementindicating that the estimate information has been created to a userassociated with the user demand information.

With the above construction, negotiation-dependent information includinguser demand information is created and stored into thenegotiation-dependent information DB. On the other hand,negotiation-independent information that includes updated estimate basicinformation is created and stored into the negotiation-independentinformation DB. Moreover, the update flag for updatednegotiation-independent information stored in thenegotiation-independent information DB is set as updated. Then, estimateinformation is newly created referring to the content of the update flagand based on the updated estimate basic information of thenegotiation-independent information and the user demand informationstored in the negotiation-dependent information DB, and the newlycreated estimate information or the announcement regarding its creationis presented to the user.

Therefore, even in the case of those custom-made products or systemproducts in which the estimate must be made individually for eachproduct such that conditions provided at each negotiation are satisfied,like solar photovoltaic power generation devices, the estimateinformation is automatically newly created on the basis of the updatedestimate basic information just by registering in advance thenegotiation-dependent information that includes the user demandinformation and the negotiation-independent information that includesthe estimate basic information.

In this case, the negotiation-independent information includes theupdate flag that indicates whether or not the estimate basic informationhas been updated. Therefore, it becomes possible to periodically executethe estimate information newly-creating process without limitation toimmediately after the step of updating the negotiation-independentinformation is performed.

In one embodiment, the negotiation-dependent information includes userinformation that specifies a negotiating counterpart and/or a contactaddress of the negotiating counterpart, or a user information addressthat indicates a storage area of the user information, and informationon a transmission destination of the estimate information orannouncement used in the step of transmitting to the user associatedwith the user demand information is obtained on the basis of the userinformation or the user information address.

In this embodiment, the negotiation-dependent information includes theuser information or the user information address that indicates thestorage area of the user information. Therefore, the transmissiondestination of the estimate information or announcement is easilyobtained.

In one embodiment, the negotiation-dependent information stored in thenegotiation-dependent information database includes the estimateinformation and a negotiation-independent information address which isan address of the negotiation-independent information that includes theestimate basic information used in creating the estimate information,and the step of newly creating the estimate information comprisesupdating the estimate information in the negotiation-dependentinformation that includes the negotiation-independent informationaddress for identifying the negotiation-independent information used innewly creating the estimate information, with the newly created estimateinformation.

In this embodiment, the negotiation-dependent information includes theestimate information and the negotiation-independent information addressthat specifies the negotiation-independent information used in creatingthe estimate information. Then, the stored estimate information isupdated with newly created estimate information. During the process, thenegotiation-dependent information that includes the estimate informationto be updated is easily found on the basis of thenegotiation-independent information address that is the address of thenegotiation-independent information used in creating the update estimateinformation.

In one embodiment, the method according to any one of the second tofourth aspects of the invention further comprises transmitting thecreated estimate information to a user terminal for presentation to thenegotiating counterpart in response to a request from the negotiatingcounterpart via the user terminal.

In this embodiment, when a request for the estimate is received from auser, the created estimate information is automatically transmitted tothe user terminal.

In one embodiment, the method according to the third or fourth aspect ofthe invention further comprises obtaining a plurality of pieces of thenegotiation-dependent information stored in the negotiation-dependentinformation database and carrying out analysis concerning thenegotiation or assistance to the analysis on the basis of the obtainednegotiation-dependent information.

In this embodiment, the analysis concerning the negotiation or theanalysis assistance is automatically carried out based on the pluralityof pieces of negotiation-dependent information stored in thenegotiation-dependent information DB.

In one embodiment of the method according to the fourth aspect of theinvention, the step of newly creating the estimate information isperiodically executed.

In this embodiment, updated estimate basic information is automaticallyretrieved periodically so that estimate information is newly created.Therefore, if the step of transmitting to the user associated with theuser demand information is concurrently carried out, the user isperiodically and automatically notified of the newly created estimateinformation or the announcement.

In one embodiment of the method according to any one of the second tofourth aspects of the invention, the product for negotiation is a solarphotovoltaic power generation device.

Therefore, even in solar photovoltaic power generation devices, whichare custom-made products or system products manufactured by combiningmany kinds of components and of which the estimate must be madeindividually for each product such that conditions provided at eachnegotiation are satisfied, the estimate information is automaticallynewly created on the basis of the updated estimate basic information andnotified to the corresponding user, or negotiating counterpart, just byregistering in advance the negotiation-dependent information thatincludes the user demand information and the negotiation-independentinformation that includes the estimate basic information.

In one embodiment, the user demand information includes at least one ofroof information concerning a roof on which a solar battery isinstalled, a desired power output, a desired time of purchase, solarbattery installation surface conditions, and a desired purchase price.

In one embodiment, the estimate information includes at least one ofinformation concerning layout design for solar battery installation atindividual customers' houses, and a subsidy application time or a newproduct release time.

In one embodiment, the estimate basic information includes at least oneof information concerning installation, information concerning asubsidy, and information concerning a solar battery module orinformation concerning a power controller.

A program-recorded medium according to a fifth aspect of the presentinvention contains an estimate creating and notifying program, whichprogram makes a computer function as the estimate creating section, thenegotiation-dependent information creating section, the contractconclusion information updating section, the negotiation-independentinformation updating section, and the estimate newly-creating section ofthe first aspect of the invention.

With the above construction, similar to the first aspect of the presentinvention, even in the case of custom-made products or system productsmanufactured by combining many kinds of components, i.e., products ofwhich the estimate is changed by a change in the estimate basicinformation and the estimate must be made individually for each productsuch that conditions provided at each negotiation are satisfied, likesolar photovoltaic power generation devices for example, the estimateinformation is automatically newly created on the basis of the updatedestimate basic information just by registering in advance thenegotiation-dependent information that includes the user demandinformation and the negotiation-independent information that includesthe estimate basic information and using the update flag and thecontract conclusion information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an estimate information creatingdevice of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a chart showing principal information stored in anegotiation-dependent information DB and a negotiation-independentinformation DB in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a negotiation-dependent information creatingoperation;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an estimate basic information obtainingoperation executed in the negotiation-dependent information creatingoperation shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a negotiation analyzing operation;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a contract conclusion information updatingoperation;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a negotiation-independent information updatingoperation;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of an estimate newly-creating operation;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of the estimate newly-creating operationcontinued from FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of an estimate inquiring operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic blockdiagram of the estimate information creating device of the presentembodiment.

The present estimate information creating device has a user terminal 1,an estimate creating section 2, a negotiation-dependent information DB3, an estimate newly-creating section 4, a negotiation-independentinformation DB 5, a negotiation-independent information updating section6, a negotiation-dependent information creating section 7, a contractconclusion information updating section 8 and a negotiation analyzingsection 9.

The arrows in FIG. 1 indicate the relations between clients and servers.The originating sides of the arrows are the clients, and the destinationsides are the servers, indicating that the clients transmit requests tothe servers, and the servers execute operations corresponding to therequests. That is, the arrows in FIG. 1 indicate the directions in whichthe requests are transmitted. It is noted, however, that the arrows mayindicate a series of operations in which not only a request is issued,but also after a processing is performed, a result of the processing isreturned to a client and the client receives the return.

Moreover, the negotiation-dependent information DB 3 and thenegotiation-independent information DB 5 are databases in whichinformation, including the estimate basic information, about products,commercial transactions, users, past negotiation results and so on isstored. The “database” in the present embodiment means one that storesone or more records of information described in a predetermined format.Further, a new record is stored according to an external request, and anID (index) of the stored record is generated. Furthermore, the databaseretrieves a record or records that conform to conditions included in theexternal request, process the conforming record(s) through updating,deletion or format conversion, if necessary, according to the request,and supply the record(s) to the requestor. An existing concrete exampleof the database is an SQL server.

FIG. 2 shows principal information pieces stored in thenegotiation-dependent information DB 3 and the negotiation-independentinformation DB 5, which are the databases used in the presentembodiment. In the following description, it is assumed that informationhaving no ID, i.e., in the state before storage in thenegotiation-dependent information DB 3 is also referred to as the“negotiation-dependent information”. The contents of the informationwill be described below with reference to FIG. 2.

A plurality of pieces of negotiation-dependent information are stored asa record in the negotiation-dependent information DB3. Thenegotiation-dependent information is a combination of ID, userauthentication information, user information, user demand information,estimate information, negotiation-independent information addressesincluding zero, and contract conclusion information, with onecombination assigned to one negotiation. The pieces of information willbe described below.

The ID is the information that identifies a record (i.e., a piece ofnegotiation-dependent information).

The user authentication information is the information thatauthenticates a negotiating counterpart and specifically, a password, afingerprint image and the like may be used.

The user information is the information that specifies the negotiatingcounterpart or the user terminal 1, such as the ZIP code, address, name,telephone number, mail address. It is acceptable to add information thatspecifies a sales company, such as the ZIP code, address, name of aperson in charge, telephone number, mail address and the like of thesales company.

The user demand information is the information that represents itemsdesired by the negotiating counterpart. When the product of thenegotiation is a solar photovoltaic power generation device for homeuse, the information may include demands in the situation of purchaseregarding roof information, a desired power output, a desired time ofpurchase, installation surface conditions (facing only the south, boththe south and the east, both the south and the west, etc.), purchaseconditions (such as the price and/or the degree of output at which thepurchase is wished) and so on. It is noted that the roof information isthe information regarding the roof on which a solar battery is to beinstalled, such as the age of the house, azimuth, roof outsidedimensions, roof material, roof slope, roof slope, roof shape (gableroof, hip roof, flat roof, etc.), planar dimensions immediately belowthe roof, eaves projection, verge projection and so on.

The estimate information is the information concerning the design(specifications) and/or the estimate of a price of the product ofnegotiation. When the product of negotiation is a solar photovoltaicpower generation device for home use, the estimate information isinformation concerning the layout design of a customer's house, such asthe layout plan, outside drawing, structural component list, prices ofthe components, and so on. Further, it is acceptable to add informationabout the subsidy application time, the new product release time and soon.

The negotiation-independent information address is an address ofnegotiation-independent information at the negotiation-independentinformation DB 5 in which the estimate basic information used forcreating the estimate information is stored.

The contract conclusion information is the information that indicateswhether or not a contract of manufacturing, sales, lease, and/or supplyof the product of negotiation has been “concluded”.

A plurality of pieces of negotiation-independent information are storedas a record in the negotiation-independent information DB 5. Thenegotiation-independent information is constituted of estimate basicinformation and an update flag.

The estimate basic information is information that is used for creatingthe estimate information and does not depend on a specific negotiation.When the product of negotiation is a solar photovoltaic power generationdevice for home use, the estimate basic information consists of at leastone of installation information, subsidy information and moduleinformation.

The installation information contains the installation-related prices,dimensions and/or information. The prices are of the structuralcomponents such as face decorative panels, dummy panels, splicingfittings, bolts and so on, which are classified by installation methodsaccording to roof materials and constructions. The dimensions aredimensions of the structural components, and the information contains acharge for installation work, a charge for electric work, and so on.

The subsidy information is the information concerning the subsidy, suchas the conditions, payment, application time and so on of the subsidysystem of a government and/or a municipality.

The module information is information concerning the solar batterymodules, such as the shape, dimensions, output, and price or informationconcerning power control, such as an input voltage range, the number ofinput systems, and output power. Moreover, it is acceptable to addinformation concerning other optional products that exert influences onthe layout design.

The update flag is information that indicates whether or not theestimate basic information of the negotiation-independent informationhas been updated, and expresses “truth” or “false”.

The estimate information creating device having the above constructionoperates as follows to carry out the creation and notification ofestimate information. The estimate information creating and notifyingmethod has a procedure constituted o a negotiation-dependent informationcreating process, a negotiation analyzing process, a contract conclusioninformation updating process, a negotiation-independent informationupdating process, an estimate newly-creating process and an estimateinquiring process. The processes are independent processes of which theexecution is started by different events. The processes will bedescribed in order in detail.

The negotiation-dependent information creating process is a process forobtaining user information and user demand information by the userterminal 1, creating negotiation-dependent information including theuser information and the user demand information, and displaying and/oroutputting an ID that specifies the negotiation-dependent informationand the estimate information created by using the user demandinformation. FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation of thenegotiation-dependent information creating process. The procedure of thenegotiation-dependent information creating process will be describedbelow with reference to FIG. 3. The negotiation-dependent informationcreating operation starts when user information and user demandinformation are externally inputted to the user terminal 1.

In step S1, the user terminal 1 obtains inputted user information anduser demand information. In step S2, an estimate request “a” thatcontains the user information and the user demand information isgenerated by the user terminal 1 and transmitted to thenegotiation-dependent information creating section 7. In step S3, theestimate request “a” from the user terminal 1 is received by thenegotiation-dependent information creating section 7. Then, an estimaterequest “b” that includes the user demand information obtained from theestimate request “a” is generated and transmitted to the estimatecreating section 2. In step S4, the estimate request “b” from thenegotiation-dependent information creating section 7 is received by theestimate creating section 2. Then, estimate information is created byusing the user demand information obtained from the estimate request“b”. Then, the created estimate information and anegotiation-independent information address of thenegotiation-independent information including the estimate basicinformation used in forming the estimate information are returned to thenegotiation-dependent information creating section 7 that is the senderof the estimate request “b”.

In step S5, negotiation-dependent information that includes the userinformation, the user demand information, the estimate information andthe negotiation-independent information address is created by thenegotiation-dependent information creating section 7, and anegotiation-dependent information storage request “d” that includes thecreated negotiation-dependent information is transmitted to thenegotiation-dependent information DB 3. In step S6, thenegotiation-dependent information storage request “d” from thenegotiation-dependent information creating section 7 is received by thenegotiation-dependent information DB 3. Then, the negotiation-dependentinformation obtained from the negotiation-dependent information storagerequest d is stored along with an associated ID. Moreover, the ID andthe estimate information are returned to the negotiation-dependentinformation creating section 7.

In step S7, the ID and the estimate information as a reply to thenegotiation-dependent information storage request “d” are received bythe negotiation-dependent information creating section 7. In step S8,the ID and the estimate information are transmitted to the user terminal1 by the negotiation-dependent information creating section 7 as a replyto the estimate request “a”. In step S9, the ID and the estimateinformation of the reply to the estimate request “a” are received by theuser terminal 1. In step S10, the received ID and estimate informationare displayed or outputted by the user terminal 1. Thereafter, thenegotiation-dependent information creating operation ends.

The following will describe in detail an estimate basic informationobtainment subroutine for obtaining the estimate basic information usedwhen the estimate creating section 2 creates the estimate informationand the negotiation-independent information address in step S4 of thenegotiation-dependent information creating operation shown in FIG. 3.FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the estimate basic information obtainingoperation. The estimate basic information obtaining operation startswhen the estimate creating section 2 receives the estimate request “b”from the negotiation-dependent information creating section 7 in step S4of the negotiation-dependent information creating operation shown inFIG. 3.

In step S11, a negotiation-independent information obtainment request“c” is generated by the estimate creating section 2 and transmitted tothe negotiation-independent information DB 5. In step S12, thenegotiation-independent information obtainment request “c” is receivedby the negotiation-independent information DB 5. Then, thenegotiation-independent information requested by thenegotiation-independent information obtainment request “c” is retrievedand supplied to the estimate creating section 2 as a reply. In step S13,the negotiation-independent information from the negotiation-independentinformation DB 5 is received by the estimate creating section 2. Whenthe negotiation-independent information that includes the estimate basicinformation is thus obtained by the estimate creating section 2, theestimate basic information obtaining operation ends.

Subsequently, as described above, on the basis of the estimate basicinformation included in the received negotiation-independent informationand the user demand information included in the estimate request “b”from the negotiation-dependent information creating section 7, theestimate creating section 2 creates estimate information that conformsto the user demand information and the negotiation-independentinformation address of the negotiation-independent information thatincludes the estimate basic information used in creating the estimateinformation.

As described above, when the user information and the user demandinformation are inputted to the user terminal 1, the user terminal 1transmits the estimate request that includes the user demand informationto the estimate creating section 2 via the negotiation-dependentinformation creating section 7. Then, the estimate creating section 2creates and returns to the negotiation-dependent information creatingsection 7 estimate information and a negotiation-independent informationaddress of the then used estimate basic information. Then, thenegotiation-dependent information creating section 7 generatesnegotiation-dependent information that includes the user information,the user demand information, the estimate information and thenegotiation-independent information address, and transmits thenegotiation-dependent information storage request “d” to thenegotiation-dependent information DB 3 to make it store thenegotiation-dependent information with the correspondingnegotiation-dependent information ID. Then, the negotiation-dependentinformation creating section 7 sends the ID and the estimate informationreturned from the negotiation-dependent information DB 3 to the userterminal 1.

That is, according to the present embodiment, only by inputting the userinformation and the user demand information to the user terminal 1,estimate information that conforms to the user demand information can beautomatically created and outputted to the user terminal 1. Therefore,even in the case of the custom-made product or the system productmanufactured by combining many kinds of components like the solarphotovoltaic power generation device, the estimate information is easilycreated and displayed only by registering in advance the estimate basicinformation that does not depend on a specific negotiation. Further, thenegotiation-dependent information that includes the created estimateinformation is automatically registered in the negotiation-dependentinformation DB 3.

The negotiation analyzing process will be described next. Thenegotiation analyzing process is a process for analyzing the negotiationand/or the negotiating counterpart by a statistical method or assistingthe analysis on the basis of a plurality of pieces ofnegotiation-dependent information stored in the negotiation-dependentinformation DB 3. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the operation of thenegotiation analyzing process. The procedure of the negotiationanalyzing process will be described next with reference to FIG. 5. Thenegotiation analyzing operation starts when an event directed to thenegotiation analyzing section 9 occurs.

In step S21, a negotiation-dependent information request “e” isgenerated by the negotiation analyzing section 9 and transmitted to thenegotiation-dependent information DB 3. In step S22, thenegotiation-dependent information request “e” is received by thenegotiation-dependent information DB 3, which then returns to thenegotiation analyzing section 9 a stored negotiation-dependentinformation piece requested by the negotiation-dependent informationrequest “e”. In step S23, the negotiation-dependent information that isthe reply to the negotiation-dependent information request “e” isreceived by the negotiation analyzing section 9. In step S24, theanalysis by a statistical method or the assistance to the analysis ofthe contents of the negotiation and/or the negotiating counterpart iscarried out on the basis of the received negotiation-dependentinformation. Thereafter, the negotiation analyzing operation ends. It isto be noted that the contents of the analysis of thenegotiation-dependent information and the analyzing method therefor haveno direct relation to the present invention, and therefore, no detaileddescription thereof is provided.

As described above, when an event directed to the negotiation analyzingsection 9 occurs, the negotiation analyzing section 9 transmits thenegotiation-dependent information request “e” to thenegotiation-dependent information DB 3. Then, the negotiation analyzingsection 9 analyzes negotiation-dependent information returned from thenegotiation-dependent information DB 3. Otherwise, the assistance to theanalysis is carried out. Therefore, the analysis or the assistance tothe analysis of the negotiation-dependent information stored in thenegotiation-dependent information DB 3 is automatically and easilycarried out.

The contract conclusion information updating process will be describednext. The contract conclusion information updating process is a processfor obtaining update contract conclusion information by the contractconclusion information updating section 8 and updating the contractconclusion information included in the negotiation-dependent informationon the basis of the obtained update contract conclusion information. The“update contract conclusion information” is the information for updatingspecific contract conclusion information. FIG. 6 is a flow chart showingthe operation of the contract conclusion information updating process.The procedure of the contract conclusion information updating processwill be described below with reference to FIG. 6. The contractconclusion information updating operation starts when update contractconclusion information is inputted from the outside to the contractconclusion information updating section 8.

In step S31, the inputted update contract conclusion information isobtained by the contract conclusion information updating section 8. Instep S32, a contract conclusion information update request “f” thatincludes the update contract conclusion information is generated by thecontract conclusion information updating section 8 and transmitted tothe negotiation-dependent information DB 3. In step S33, the contractconclusion information update request “f” is received by thenegotiation-dependent information DB 3. Then, the content of thecontract conclusion information included in the correspondingnegotiation-dependent information is updated on the basis of the updatecontract conclusion information contained in the contract conclusioninformation update request “f”. Thereafter, the contract conclusioninformation updating operation ends.

As described above, when a contract of the manufacturing, sales, leaseand/or supply of a product is concluded as a result of negotiation, theupdate contract conclusion information is inputted to the contractconclusion information updating section 8. Then, the contract conclusioninformation updating section 8 transmits to the negotiation-dependentinformation DB 3 a contract conclusion information update request “f”containing the update contract conclusion information so as to updatethe contract conclusion information of the negotiation-dependentinformation corresponding to the content of the concluded contract as“concluded”. Therefore, only by inputting the update contract conclusioninformation to the contract conclusion information updating section 8,the contract conclusion information of the negotiation-dependentinformation DB 3 is automatically and easily updated.

The negotiation-independent information updating process will bedescribed next. The negotiation-independent information updating processis a process for obtaining update negotiation-independent information bythe negotiation-independent information updating section 6 and updatingthe negotiation-independent information stored in thenegotiation-independent information DB 5 on the basis of the updatenegotiation-independent information. The “update negotiation-independentinformation” is the information for updating specificnegotiation-independent information. FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing theoperation of the negotiation-independent information updating process.The procedure of the negotiation-independent information updatingprocess will be described below with reference to FIG. 7. Thenegotiation-independent information updating operation starts whenupdate negotiation-independent information is inputted from the outsideto the negotiation-independent information updating section 6.

In step S41, the inputted update negotiation-independent information isobtained by the negotiation-independent information updating section 6.In step S42, a negotiation-independent information update request “g”that includes the update negotiation-independent information isgenerated by the negotiation-independent information updating section 6and transmitted to the negotiation-independent information DB 5. In stepS43, the negotiation-independent information update request “g” isreceived by the negotiation-independent information DB 5. Then, thecontents of the estimate basic information of the correspondingnegotiation-independent information are updated on the basis of theupdate negotiation-independent information of thenegotiation-independent information update request “g”, and the contentof the associated update flag is updated to “true (updated)”.Thereafter, the negotiation-independent information updating operationends.

As described above, when a change occurs in the negotiation-independentinformation that does not depend on a specific negotiation likeinstallation information, subsidy information and module information inthe case of the solar photovoltaic power generation device for home use,the update negotiation-independent information is inputted to thenegotiation-independent information updating section 6. Then, thenegotiation-independent information updating section 6 transmits thenegotiation-independent information update request “g” that includes theupdate negotiation-independent information to thenegotiation-independent information DB 5 to update the estimate basicinformation of the corresponding negotiation-independent information andupdate the update flag of the negotiation-independent information to“true”. Therefore, only by inputting the update negotiation-independentinformation to the negotiation-independent information updating section6, the estimate basic information and the associated update flag in thenegotiation-independent information DB 5 is automatically and easilyupdated.

The estimate newly-creating process will be described next. In theestimate newly-creating process, estimate information included innegotiation-dependent information in an unconcluded state is updated byusing estimate basic information updated in the negotiation-independentinformation updating process and the updated estimate information isnotified to the user terminal 1 or the customer on the basis of the userinformation of the negotiation-dependent information. It is to be notedthat the estimate newly-creating process is a process to be periodicallyexecuted by the estimate newly-creating section 4. FIGS. 8 and 9 areflow charts showing the operation of the estimate newly-creatingprocess. The procedure of the estimate newly-creating process will bedescribed below with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. The estimatenewly-creating operation starts when an event directed to the estimatenewly-creating section 4 occurs.

In step S51, an updated information request “h” is generated by theestimate newly-creating section 4 and transmitted to thenegotiation-independent information DB 5. In step S52, the updatedinformation request “h” is received by the negotiation-independentinformation DB 5. Then, the negotiation-independent information of whichthe content of the update flag is “true (updated)” is retrieved, and theaddress of the retrieved negotiation-independent information is returnedto the estimate newly-creating section 4. In step S53, thenegotiation-independent information address sent in reply to the updatedinformation request “h” is received by the estimate newly-creatingsection 4. In step S54, an inquiry request “i” that includes thenegotiation-independent information address is generated by the estimatenewly-creating section 4 and transmitted to the negotiation-dependentinformation DB 3.

In step S55, the inquiry request “i” is received by thenegotiation-dependent information DB 3. Then, negotiation-dependentinformation, of which the content of the negotiation-independentinformation address indicates the address of the negotiation-independentinformation included in the inquiry request “i” and the content of thecontract conclusion information is “unconcluded”, is retrieved. The userinformation, user demand information and ID included in the retrievednegotiation-dependent information are returned to the estimatenewly-creating section 4. In step S56, the user information, user demandinformation and ID as the reply to the inquiry request “i” are receivedby the estimate newly-creating section 4. In step S57, an estimaterequest “j” that includes the received user demand information isgenerated by the estimate newly-creating section 4 and transmitted tothe estimate creating section 2.

In step S58, estimate information and a negotiation-independentinformation address concerning the negotiation-independent informationthat includes the estimate basic information used in creating theestimate information are newly created by using the user demandinformation in the estimate request “j” by the estimate creating section2. Then, the created estimate information and negotiation-independentinformation address are returned to the estimate newly-creating section4. In step S59, the estimate information and the negotiation-independentinformation address as a reply to the estimate request “j” are receivedby the estimate newly-creating section 4. In step S60, an estimateinformation update request “k”, which includes the ID received as thereply to the inquiry request “i” and the estimate information andnegotiation-independent information address received as the reply to theestimate request “j”, is generated by the estimate newly-creatingsection 4 and transmitted to the negotiation-dependent information DB 3.

In step S61, the estimate information update request “k” is received bythe negotiation-dependent information DB 3. Then, the estimateinformation and the negotiation-independent information address ofnegotiation-dependent information identified by the ID of the estimateinformation update request “k” are updated with the value of theestimate information and the value of the negotiation-independentinformation address in the estimate information update request “k”. Thereason why the value of the negotiation-independent information addressis updated is that the estimate basic information used in newly creatingestimate information may differ from the estimate basic information usedin initially creating the estimate information due to the updating ofthe estimate basic information. In step S62, a notification “l” directedto the negotiating counterpart is transmitted from the estimatenewly-creating section 4 to a user terminal 1 identified by the userinformation received as a reply to the inquiry request “i”. Thenotification “l” is a message (announcement) notifying the fact that theestimate information has been updated. Subsequently, the estimatenewly-creating operation ends. Then, the notification “l” is received bythe user terminal 1 and displayed or outputted.

As described above, when an event directed to the estimatenewly-creating section 4 occurs, the estimate newly-creating section 4obtains the negotiation-independent information address of the updatednegotiation-independent information from the negotiation-independentinformation DB 5. Further, the estimate newly-creating section 4obtains, from the negotiation-dependent information DB 3, the userinformation, user demand information and ID of negotiation-dependentinformation having the obtained negotiation-independent informationaddress and having the “unconcluded” status. Then, the estimatenewly-creating section 4 transmits to the estimate creating section 2the estimate request “j” that includes the obtained user demandinformation.

Then, the estimate creating section 2 creates estimate information thatconforms to the user demand information. Then, the estimate creatingsection 2 returns the estimate information and thenegotiation-independent information address of thenegotiation-independent information that includes the estimate basicinformation used in creating the estimate information to the estimatenewly-creating section 4. The estimate newly-creating section 4transmits the estimate information update request “k” that includes theobtained ID, estimate information and negotiation-independentinformation address to the negotiation-dependent information DB 3 toupdate the estimate information and the negotiation-independentinformation address of the negotiation-dependent information identifiedby the ID. Then, the notification “l” announcing the estimateinformation having been updated is transmitted to the user terminal 1.

Thus, finding out the “unconcluded” user information and user demandinformation concerning the updated negotiation-independent information,newly creating the estimate information intended for the identified userto update the negotiation-dependent information DB 3, and transmittingthe estimate information update announcement to the user areautomatically performed.

That is, according to the present embodiment, even in the case ofcustom-made products or system products manufactured by combining manykinds of components, i.e., products of which the estimate is changed bya change in the estimate basic information and the estimate must be madeindividually for each product such that conditions provided at eachnegotiation are satisfied, like solar photovoltaic power generationdevices for example, the estimate information can easily be newlycreated only by registering the estimate basic information in advanceand providing an update flag that indicates whether or not the estimatebasic information has been updated and contract conclusion informationthat indicates whether or not the contract concerning the product ofnegotiation has been concluded.

The estimate inquiring process will be described next. The estimateinquiring process is a process for obtaining the ID and userauthentication information by the user terminal 1 and displaying and/oroutputting the estimate information of negotiation-dependent informationidentified by the ID and authenticated by the user authenticationinformation. In general, a customer who has received the notification“l” starts the process in order to obtain the updated estimateinformation. FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the operation of theestimate inquiring process. The procedure of the estimate inquiringprocess will be described below with reference to FIG. 10. When an IDand user authentication information are inputted to the user terminal 1,the estimate inquiring operation starts.

In step S71, the ID and user authentication information are obtained bythe user terminal 1. In step S72, an estimate inquiry request “m” thatincludes the ID and the user authentication information is generated bythe user terminal 1 and transmitted to the negotiation-dependentinformation DB 3. In step S73, the estimate inquiry request “m” isreceived by the negotiation-dependent information DB 3. Then,negotiation-dependent information that conforms to the ID and the userauthentication information of the estimate inquiry request “m” issearched for and retrieved, and the thus obtained estimate informationis issued as a reply. In step S74, the estimate information is receivedas the reply to the estimate inquiry request “m” by the user terminal 1.In step S75, the received estimate information is displayed and/oroutputted by the user terminal 1. Subsequently, the estimate inquiringoperation ends.

As described above, when the ID and the user authentication informationare inputted to the user terminal 1, the user terminal 1 outputs theestimate inquiry request “m” to the negotiation-dependent information DB3, to make the latter supply the estimate information ofnegotiation-dependent information that conforms to the ID and the userauthentication information. Then, the user terminal 1 displays and/oroutputs the obtained estimate information. Therefore, with the provisionof the estimate newly-creating section 4, the estimate information newlycreated on the basis of the updated estimate basic information isautomatically obtained and outputted.

The estimate information creating device of the present embodimentcarries out the creation of estimate information and notification byproperly combining the negotiation-dependent information creatingprocess, the negotiation analyzing process, the contract conclusioninformation updating process, the negotiation-independent informationupdating process, the estimate newly-creating process and the estimateinquiring process.

Actual algorithms of the processes are not limited to those shown in theflow charts of FIGS. 3 through 10. Moreover, it is acceptable to addother pieces of information to the negotiation-dependent information DB3 and the negotiation-independent information DB 5.

In the described embodiment, the contract conclusion information isincluded in the negotiation-dependent information, and thenegotiation-dependent information created in the negotiation-dependentinformation creating process is unconditionally stored into thenegotiation-dependent information DB 3. However, the present inventionis not limited to this, and it is acceptable to eliminate the contractconclusion information from the negotiation-dependent information andstore negotiation-dependent information created in thenegotiation-dependent information creating process into thenegotiation-dependent information DB in the negotiation-dependentinformation storing process only when no contract has been concludedwith an estimate created in the estimate creating process on the basisof that negotiation-dependent information.

In that case, all the negotiation-dependent information stored in thenegotiation-dependent information DB is unexceptionallynegotiation-dependent information of which no contract has beenconcluded. Therefore, a labor for searching for unconcludednegotiation-dependent information by the negotiation-dependentinformation DB is saved in newly creating estimate information.

Moreover, in the described embodiment, the update flag is included inthe negotiation-independent information, and the negotiation-independentinformation address of the updated negotiation-independent informationis obtained by referring to the content of the update flag in theestimate newly-creating process. However, the present invention is notlimited to this, and it is also acceptable to eliminate the update flagand immediately after executing the negotiation-independent informationupdating process, obtain the negotiation-independent information addressof the negotiation-independent information (updatednegotiation-independent information).

In that case, a labor for referring to the update flag in the estimatenewly-creating process is saved.

Moreover, in the described embodiment, the user information is includedin the negotiation-dependent information. Then, information thatspecifies the negotiating counterpart, the user terminal 1 or the salescompany is used as the user information. However, the present inventionis not limited to this, and it is acceptable to store the userinformation that specifies the negotiating counterpart, the userterminal 1 and/or the sales company in an area independent from thenegotiation-dependent information and include in thenegotiation-dependent information a user information address thatindicates the storage area of the user information.

It is to be noted that the functions of the estimate creating section 2,the negotiation-dependent information creating section 7, the contractconclusion information updating section 8, the negotiation-independentinformation updating section 6, and the estimate newly-creating section4 of the described embodiment are achieved by an estimate creating andnotifying program recorded in a program recording medium. Thecomputer-readable recording medium may be a program medium constructedof a ROM (Read Only Memory). Otherwise, it may be a program medium thatis to be loaded in an external auxiliary storage device and readthereby. In either case, a program reading means for reading theestimate creating and notifying program from the program medium may beconfigured to make direct access to the program medium or to load theprogram into a program storage area provided in a RAM (Random AccessMemory) and make access to the program storage area. It is noted that adownload program used for downloading from the program medium into theprogram storage area of the RAM is stored in advance in a main unit.

The “program medium” herein is a medium that is constituted separablefrom the main unit and stationarily carries a program, inclusive oftapes such as magnetic tapes, cassette tapes and so on, magnetic diskssuch as flexible disks, hard disks and so on, optical disks such asCD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), MO (Magnet Optical disk), MD(Mini Disc), DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) and so on, cards such as IC(Integrated Circuit) cards, optical cards and so on, and semiconductormemories such as mask ROM, EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read OnlyMemory: ultraviolet erasable ROM), EEPROM (Electronically ErasableProgrammable Read Only Memory: electrically erasable ROM), flash ROM andso on.

Moreover, the estimate information creating device of the embodiment canhave a construction that includes a modem, a LAN card or the like and isconnectable to a communication network including the Internet. In such acase, the program medium may be a medium that fluidly carries a programby downloading it from the communication network or the like. In such acase, a download program for the download from the communication networkin the case is stored in advance in the main unit or installed fromanother recording medium.

The matter to be recorded in the recording medium is not limited only tothe program, but data is also recordable.

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 15. An estimate creating device forcreating and notifying estimate information that includes aspecification and/or an estimate of a price of a product, on the basisof user demand information that depends on a specific negotiation andestimate basic information that does not depend on any specificnegotiation, comprising: a negotiation-independent information databasecontaining negotiation-independent information that includes theestimate basic information and an update flag indicating whether or notthe estimate basic information has been updated; an estimate creatingsection which, upon receiving an estimate create request, createsestimate information by obtaining from the negotiation-independentinformation database estimate basic information that conforms to userdemand information and returns the created estimate information to arequester of the estimate create request; a negotiation-dependentinformation creating section which, upon receiving a request from a userterminal, transmits the estimate create request to the estimate creatingsection, creates negotiation-dependent information that includes thereturned estimate information, contract conclusion informationindicating whether or not a contract has been concluded concerning theproduct to which the estimate information is directed, and the userdemand information, and issues the estimate information or anannouncement that the estimate information has been created as a replyto the user terminal; a negotiation-dependent information database inwhich the created negotiation-dependent information is stored; acontract conclusion information updating section which, upon receivingupdated contract conclusion information for updating a specific contractconclusion information piece, makes the negotiation-dependentinformation database update a contract conclusion information pieceidentified by the received updated contract conclusion information onthe basis of the received updated contract conclusion information; anegotiation-independent information updating section which, uponreceiving updated negotiation-independent information for updating aspecific negotiation-independent information piece, makes thenegotiation-independent information database update anegotiation-independent information piece identified by the receivedupdated negotiation-independent information on the basis of the receivedupdated negotiation-independent information; and an estimatenewly-creating section which, on the basis of information stored in thenegotiation-independent information database and thenegotiation-dependent information database, obtainsnegotiation-dependent information when the contract has not yet beenconcluded which includes estimate information created by using theestimate basic information that was an object of updating, transmits tothe estimate creating section an estimate create request that includesuser demand information of the obtained negotiation-dependentinformation, makes the negotiation-dependent information database updatethe negotiation-dependent information with returned estimateinformation, and transmits to the user terminal the estimate informationor an announcement indicating that the estimate information has beencreated.
 16. A computer-readable program-recorded medium that containsan estimate creating and notifying program, wherein said program makes acomputer function as: the estimate creating section, thenegotiation-dependent information creating section, the contractconclusion information updating section, the negotiation-independentinformation updating section, and the estimate newly-creating section asset forth in claim
 15. 17. An estimate creating and notifying method forcreating and notifying estimate information that includes aspecification and/or an estimate of a price of a product, by using userdemand information that depends on a specific negotiation and estimatebasic information that does not depend on any specific negotiation,comprising the steps of: storing negotiation-independent informationincluding the estimate basic information in a negotiation-independentinformation database; creating negotiation-dependent informationincluding the user demand information; creating the estimate informationusing the user demand information and the estimate basic information;storing the created negotiation-dependent information in anegotiation-dependent information database when a contract has not beenconcluded concerning the product for which the estimate information iscreated; updating the negotiation-independent information stored in thenegotiation-independent information database; newly creating estimateinformation when said step of updating the negotiation-independentinformation has been performed, based on the estimate basic informationin the updated negotiation-independent information and the user demandinformation in the negotiation-dependent information stored in thenegotiation-dependent information database; and transmitting theestimate information as created or an announcement indicating that theestimate information has been created to a user associated with the userdemand information.
 18. The estimate information creating and notifyingmethod as set forth in claim 17, wherein the negotiation-dependentinformation includes user information that specifies a negotiatingcounterpart and/or a contact address of the negotiating counterpart, ora user information address that indicates a storage area of the userinformation, and information on a transmission destination of theestimate information or announcement used in the step of transmitting tothe user associated with the user demand information is obtained on thebasis of the user information or the user information address.
 19. Theestimate information creating and notifying method as set forth in claim17, wherein the negotiation-dependent information stored in thenegotiation-dependent information database includes the estimateinformation and a negotiation-independent information address which isan address of the negotiation-independent information that includes theestimate basic information used in creating the estimate information,and the step of newly creating the estimate information comprisesupdating the estimate information in the negotiation-dependentinformation that includes the negotiation-independent informationaddress for identifying the negotiation-independent information used innewly creating the estimate information, with the newly created estimateinformation.
 20. The estimate information creating and notifying methodas set forth in claim 17, comprising the step of: transmitting thecreated estimate information to a user terminal for presentation to thenegotiating counterpart in response to a request from the negotiatingcounterpart via the user terminal.
 21. The estimate information creatingand notifying method as set forth in claim 17, wherein the product fornegotiation is a solar photovoltaic power generation device.
 22. Theestimate information creating and notifying method as set forth in claim21, wherein the user demand information includes at least one of roofinformation concerning a roof on which a solar battery is to beinstalled, a desired power output, a desired time of purchase, solarbattery installation surface conditions, and a desired purchase price.23. The estimate information creating and notifying method as set forthin claim 21, wherein the estimate information includes at least one of:information concerning layout design for solar battery installation atindividual customers' houses; and a subsidy application time or a newproduct release time.
 24. The estimate information creating andnotifying method as set forth in claim 21, wherein the estimate basicinformation includes at least a subsidy application time or a newproduct one of: information concerning installation; informationconcerning a subsidy; and information concerning a solar battery moduleor information concerning a power controller.
 25. An estimate creatingand notifying method for creating and notifying estimate informationthat includes a specification and/or an estimate of a price of aproduct, by using user demand information that depends on a specificnegotiation and estimate basic information that does not depend on anyspecific negotiation, comprising the steps of: storingnegotiation-independent information including the estimate basicinformation in a negotiation-independent information database; creatingnegotiation-dependent information including the user demand informationand contract conclusion information indicating whether or not a contracthas been concluded concerning the product for which the estimateinformation is created; creating the estimate information using the userdemand information and the estimate basic information; storing thecreated negotiation-dependent information in a negotiation-dependentinformation database; updating a content of the contract conclusioninformation in the negotiation-dependent information stored in thenegotiation-dependent information database; updating thenegotiation-independent information stored in thenegotiation-independent information database; newly creating estimateinformation concerning the negotiation-dependent information for whichthe contract conclusion information stored in the negotiation-dependentinformation database indicates that no contract has been concluded, whensaid step of updating the negotiation-independent information has beenperformed, based on the estimate basic information in the updatednegotiation-independent information and the user demand information inthe negotiation-dependent information; and transmitting the estimateinformation as created or an announcement indicating that the estimateinformation has been created to a user associated with the user demandinformation.
 26. The estimate information creating and notifying methodas set forth in claim 25, wherein the negotiation-dependent informationincludes user information that specifies a negotiating counterpartand/or a contact address of the negotiating counterpart, or a userinformation address that indicates a storage area of the userinformation, and information on a transmission destination of theestimate information or announcement used in the step of transmitting tothe user associated with the user demand information is obtained on thebasis of the user information or the user information address.
 27. Theestimate information creating and notifying method as set forth in claim25, wherein the negotiation-dependent information stored in thenegotiation-dependent information database includes the estimateinformation and a negotiation-independent information address which isan address of the negotiation-independent information that includes theestimate basic information used in creating the estimate information,and the step of newly creating the estimate information comprisesupdating the estimate information in the negotiation-dependentinformation that includes the negotiation-independent informationaddress for identifying the negotiation-independent information used innewly creating the estimate information, with the newly created estimateinformation.
 28. The estimate information creating and notifying methodas set forth in claim 25, comprising the step of: transmitting thecreated estimate information to a user terminal for presentation to thenegotiating counterpart in response to a request from the negotiatingcounterpart via the user terminal.
 29. The estimate information creatingand notifying method as set forth in claim 25, comprising the step of:obtaining a plurality of pieces of the negotiation-dependent informationstored in the negotiation-dependent information database and carryingout an analysis concerning the negotiation or assistance to an analysisconcerning the negotiation on the basis of the obtainednegotiation-dependent information.
 30. The estimate information creatingand notifying method as set forth in claim 25, wherein the product fornegotiation is a solar photovoltaic power generation device.
 31. Theestimate information creating and notifying method as set forth in claim30, wherein the user demand information includes at least one of roofinformation concerning a roof on which a solar battery is to beinstalled, a desired power output, a desired time of purchase, solarbattery installation surface conditions, and a desired purchase price.32. The estimate information creating and notifying method as set forthin claim 30, wherein the estimate information includes at least one of:information concerning layout design for solar battery installation atindividual customers' houses; and a subsidy application time or a newproduct release time.
 33. The estimate information creating andnotifying method as set forth in claim 30, wherein the estimate basicinformation includes at least one of: information concerninginstallation; information concerning a subsidy; and informationconcerning a solar battery module or information concerning a powercontroller.
 34. An estimate creating and notifying method for creatingand notifying estimate information that includes a specification and/oran estimate of a price of a product, by using user demand informationthat depends on a specific negotiation and estimate basic informationthat does not depend on any specific negotiation, comprising the stepsof: storing in a negotiation-independent information databasenegotiation-independent information including the estimate basicinformation and an update flag indicating whether or not the estimatebasic information has been updated; creating negotiation-dependentinformation including the user demand information; creating the estimateinformation using the user demand information and the estimate basicinformation; storing the created negotiation-dependent information in anegotiation-dependent information database; updating thenegotiation-independent information stored in thenegotiation-independent information database and changing a content ofthe update flag such that the flag indicates updating has beenperformed; newly creating estimate information referencing the contentof the update flag and based on the estimate basic information in theupdated negotiation-independent information and the user demandinformation in the negotiation-dependent information stored in thenegotiation-dependent information database; and transmitting theestimate information as created or an announcement indicating that theestimate information has been created to a user associated with the userdemand information.
 35. The estimate information creating and notifyingmethod as set forth in claim 34, wherein the negotiation-dependentinformation includes user information that specifies a negotiatingcounterpart and/or a contact address of the negotiating counterpart, ora user information address that indicates a storage area of the userinformation, and information on a transmission destination of theestimate information or announcement used in the step of transmitting tothe user associated with the user demand information is obtained on thebasis of the user information or the user information address.
 36. Theestimate information creating and notifying method as set forth in claim34, wherein the negotiation-dependent information stored in thenegotiation-dependent information database includes the estimateinformation and a negotiation-independent information address which isan address of the negotiation-independent information that includes theestimate basic information used in creating the estimate information,and the step of newly creating the estimate information comprisesupdating the estimate information in the negotiation-dependentinformation that includes the negotiation-independent informationaddress for identifying the negotiation-independent information used innewly creating the estimate information, with the newly created estimateinformation.
 37. The estimate information creating and notifying methodas set forth in claim 34, comprising the step of: transmitting thecreated estimate information to a user terminal for presentation to thenegotiating counterpart in response to a request from the negotiatingcounterpart via the user terminal.
 38. The estimate information creatingand notifying method as set forth in claim 34 comprising the step of:obtaining a plurality of pieces of the negotiation-dependent informationstored in the negotiation-dependent information database and carryingout an analysis concerning the negotiation or assistance to an analysisconcerning the negotiation on the basis of the obtainednegotiation-dependent information.
 39. The estimate information creatingand notifying method as set forth in claim 34, wherein the step of newlycreating the estimate information is periodically executed.
 40. Theestimate information creating and notifying method as set forth in claim34, wherein the product for negotiation is a solar photovoltaic powergeneration device.
 41. The estimate information creating and notifyingmethod as set forth in claim 40, wherein the user demand informationincludes at least one of roof information concerning a roof on which asolar battery is to be installed, a desired power output, a desired timeof purchase, solar battery installation surface conditions, and adesired purchase price.
 42. The estimate information creating andnotifying method as set forth in claim 40, wherein the estimateinformation includes at least one of: information concerning layoutdesign for solar battery installation at individual customers' houses;and a subsidy application time or a new product release time.
 43. Theestimate information creating and notifying method as set forth in claim40, wherein the estimate basic information includes at least one of:information concerning installation; information concerning a subsidy;and information concerning a solar battery module or informationconcerning a power controller.